Facts about
preterm birth

Every year, an estimated 15 million babies worldwide — or more than 1 in 10 — are born preterm.¹And every 30 seconds a baby dies of preterm birth.² In fact, preterm birth complications are the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age, responsible for nearly 1 million deaths in 2013.¹It is because of these startling statistics that Philips works to raise awareness on the importance of Developmental Care. Preterm infants have special needs, and carefully addressing those needs is key to their survival. They may need help breathing or maintaining body heat. Feeding can be challenging, and jaundice, low blood sugar, and anemia are all possible. They may also have difficulty dealing with stimuli, so the NICU environment is particularly important.

Developmental care in the NICU

In addition to meeting the physical needs of infants in the NICU, it is also critical to meet their physiological and developmental needs. Our Integrative Developmental Care Model combines evidence-­based best practices with core measures, and is one tool you can use to guide efforts to facilitate the physiological and developmental needs of each newborn.

This personalized approach includes educational programs for both mother and family. It also serves as a foundation for our Global Wee Care quality improvement program - a holistic methodology for managing stress and minimizing risk, which aims to provide a calming and soothing atmosphere that involves the whole family.

Developmental Care in action

Embracing Global Wee Care

Infant positioning

Take a look at how our wide range of positioning products provides flexible yet stable support to increase baby’s comfort level and physiological stability for preterm and ill babies.

Infant soothing

View how Philips infant soothing products help soothe and calm newborns and babies in the NICU. Our infant soothing products are suited for all babies, from very low birth weight babies to babies with teeth.

The transformation to family-centered care at Maxima

Máxima Medical Center operationalized their family-centered care vision in a specially designed environment promoting privacy across the obstetrics and neonatal intensive care unit.

Developmental Care webinars

Implementing Developmental Care
How does the NICU environment influence patients and parents? Hear current perspectives on implementing Developmental Care from Thomas Kühn, Neonatologist/Consultant at the Vivantes Perinatal Center in Berlin and CEO of Neotrainer.

Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital enhances its NICU environment and caregiving practices
Learn from Dr. Raylene Phillips of Loma Linda how they created a new NICU environment (physical, people, and processes) through nurse training and organizational transformation to improve delivery of care and patient satisfaction.

Related topics

Jaundice affects approximately 80% of preterm newborns, and 60% of all newborns.3

The high percentage of newborns who develop jaundice combined with the move towards shorter stays in the maternity ward requires increasingly innovative ways to diagnose and manage this common condition to avoid readmission.

The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age5. But this very natural act does not come easily to every new mother. So it’s important that parents feel comfortable turning to you for expert advice.

By clicking on the link, you will be leaving the official Royal Philips Healthcare ("Philips") website. Any links to third-party websites that may appear on this site are provided only for your convenience and in no way represent any affiliation or endorsement of the information provided on those linked websites. Philips makes no representations or warranties of any kind with regard to any third-party websites or the information contained therein.